Kola Akintola: An artist’s efforts to make arts attractive

KOLA Akintola’s recent art exhibition at the Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, shows how concerned he is about the welfare of Nigerian artists. To him, if an artist is well-placed and can generate ideas, then he should be able to survive solely on his creative ideas.

Akintola, one of the country’s finest artists, is of the view that artists need to be exposed, while embracing principles of marketing for them to be able to accrue the benefits of their creativity.

Speaking during the exhibition, Retrospective Arts of Kola Akintola, the artist emphasised the need for individuality and style in creative works, saying once an artist patterns his work after a known artist, then every time the artist produces some paintings, the credit goes to the known artists.

He said: “Artists should be able to think outside the box; have we not wondered that the same works we produce here in Nigeria and which are not appreciated by the people, could go for millions of dollars elsewhere, especially in Europe.

“We should, therefore, learn to be entrepreneurs before our professional calling; it is when we see ourselves as entrepreneurs that we can know how push our works to where they will be appreciated.”

Unlike in other exhibitions, Akintola also organised lectures and discussion sessions where artists brainstormed on how to be relevant and create more opportunities for themselves.

In the first lecture, Artists as Entrepreneurs, Mr Femi Akande, a lecturer at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, said artists must learn to monetise their works.

He said there is no gain in painting a work and putting it in a room without exposing it to an international audience.

Akande said with the aid of technology through social media, artists’ works could be viewed all over the world, with bids coming for them in dollars.

In the second lecture, Creating Opportunities for Artists’ Growth and Development, Mr Anthony Enadeghe of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Ile-Ife, Osun State, equally sensitised artists on the need to embrace technology for their development.

Enadeghe said artists could search for research or travelling grants, residencies and many more online, which would definitely boost their stock as artists.

Earlier, the director of the Alliance Francaise, Mr Johann Robinet, said the French cultural centre would continue to work towards providing the platform for local artists to thrive.